For evaluating the potential yield of different phenotypes, biomass is one of the most important features in plant cultivation; however, it is not always readily possible to determine biomass.
One example of determining biomass is to weigh the plant. Weighing of the plant includes one two different variants: for one thing, it is possible to weigh the plant in the greenhouse together with its pot. In this context, differing amounts of watering present in the pot represent a major source of error. In the second variant, the plants are destroyed, and the weight is determined without any interference effects due to the humid soil. Therefore, the method of weighing is either correspondingly imprecise since the humidity of the soil (of the substrate) needs to be determined with high accuracy, or destructive since the plant needs to be cut off and be weighed separately.
A further possibility of determining biomass is the so-called optical method. Here, the plant is optically measured, e.g., by means of a 3D laser cutting method, and the plant's weight is thus approximated. In this case, the level of accuracy of the method is limited by an assumption of thickness and density for the various parts of the plant since it is only the surface of the plant that can be determined by said method. In addition, for various types of plants, it is difficult to optically sense the entire plant due to the interlaced manner in which the plant has grown and to the resulting shading, which results in further inaccuracies.
Therefore, one may state, in summary, that determining of biomass, in particular in field applications, is subject to a certain level of inaccuracy or is invasive, so that weighing cannot be performed until after the harvest. This is why there is a need for an improved approach.